


Thank You

by prettypeonie



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, CEO! Jooheon, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, M/M, Romance, Secretary!Reader, aka my dream, he's really sweet, this is a good read if you're having a bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-06 19:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17351210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettypeonie/pseuds/prettypeonie
Summary: Jooheon’s hands enclose around your shaky fingers, lacing them together with his. The warmth of his touch surrounds you like water as he gently pulls you into his waves. Heat prickles your arms in the form of goosebumps, the intimacy of this moment swallowing you whole. You look at your fingers, unable to differentiate his from yours. Never in your life have you felt this level of intensity with someone.Honestly, you don’t want to feel this with anyone but him.





	Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my older works and also one of my favorites. I spiffed it up (a lot) and made the plot deeper. I adore this type of Jooheon in fanfiction and I hope you will too :)

Jooheon’s eyes darken noticeably beneath the dull lighting of his office. Their sharpness pierces through your calm exterior and the look makes your stomach churn. He seems as if he’s trying to decipher an algorithm except the answer is somewhere on your face. With his seriousness, a nervous heat scorches along the skin of your neck menacingly. Why is he staring at you like that? You thought that he was calling you into his office to talk about his schedule for tomorrow like you two usually do before going home. But as soon as you pushed open one of the sleek black doors and walked in, you knew something was off. 

“Come here,” He mumbles. The words reverberate through the room, gently breaking the silence. Dark eyebrows that were once relaxed are now knit together, making him even more beautiful. Jooheon’s stature is slumped as he leans back, both of his elbows resting on the arms of his chair. He places his chin on his right knuckles, his gaze unwavering from yours. You avert your eyes around the room in bewilderment. At this point, you're unsure what to expect or if you should expect anything at all.

The flats of your shoes pad slowly towards his desk, the sound mingling with the hum of the ac unit. Your heart resembles the thunder in the sky as it booms in your chest unforgivingly. Why are you so nervous? Over the past years, Jooheon has become one of your closest friends, despite being your boss. He’s seen you cry, you’ve seen him break down from all the stress that lies on the crooks of his shoulders. He _shouldn’t_ be affecting you the way he is right now.

Arriving next to his chair, you look anywhere but him because you’re sure that the signs of anticipation are written all over your body language. Jooheon tells you often how you’re an open book to him. He can always read your pages, knowing when you’re upset or sad. Later in your friendship, he disclosed that that’s one of the reasons he hired you as his secretary in the first place. He wanted someone opposite of him, someone who contrasted with his steely business resolve, someone he can trust.

His feet move, pushing his chair away from the desk slightly. The lines of his face are etched with the ink of exhaustion but he still looks handsome. This is the time you admire him the most... when he’s disheveled at the end of the day. All of the strings that he holds neatly into place unravel into a mess. Ebony hair lays messily on his head after a long day. Two buttons are undone from his shirt with his tie most likely somewhere in the room. This is the Jooheon that comforts you when you’re stressed and doesn’t hide his feellings for the sake of business. Raw and real, his own book becomes undone as he allows you to read his pages. Something he never allows people the privilege of seeing, except you. His hand beckons you towards the desk, fingers tapping lightly onto the wood in front of him.

_He wants you to sit… on his desk?_

You two are close, yes, but he’s never asked you to do something like this. Questioningly, you look towards him in bewilderment. By now your palms have started to sweat from the uncertainty. Despite your erratically beating heart and flitting gaze, he is calm. Jooheon smiles softly, causing his dimples to deepen handsomely. The look on his face is endearing and sweet which only makes it harder to hold onto the edges of professionalism. You’re losing your grip with every passing second.

“But sir…” his eyebrows lift in surprise at the honorific, but the softness never leaves his features.

“Please sit,” he pleads, voice heavy with emotion making the timbers even deeper. Upon seeing the look of earnestness on his face, you breathe out slowly and nod. You set the papers in your hands down somewhere you’re not even sure of, the next moments passing by in a nervous blur. Jooheon stands up, moving some coffee cups and pens scattered on the surface you're about to sit on. He stands back, allowing you space to move onto the desk. Your fingers land on the worn wooden edges with a tremble as you turn around, your bottom grazing the edge as well. The feeling has you hesitating and looking towards the grey walls, paranoid that someone might be watching even though you know you and Jooheon are the only ones still working this late into the night.

 _“It’s okay,_ dumpling,” He whispers quietly, eyes looking over your tense and hesitant frame. The nickname tickles your stomach like butterfly wings and eases you enough so you can lift yourself onto the surface.

That nickname was given to you on a night not much different than this one. It had been stormy outside, much like Jooheon’s day when he paced into his office after a meeting gone terribly wrong. You watched him trudge angrily into the double doors from your desk, realizing the gravity of his situation. Immediately you dialed the number of his favorite restaurant and ordered his favorite dish, dumplings. An hour later, hair amuck from the wind, you knocked softly onto his office doors with a large bag of steaming dumplings, as well as noodles and rice in your left hand. He gave you permission to enter, eyes dull from the harboring day as they stared at you. _I got you your favorite dumplings, I hope they make today a little better._ Slowly, his eyes twinkled with appreciation and perhaps something else as they glided over your rain-tousled frame. You both knew full well that restaurant didn’t deliver, and that you went thirty minutes out of your way to make him feel better. He just stood there in awe, eyes flitting from your frame to the food on his desk. You had to remind yourself at that moment that what was happening wasn’t a dream and was very real because he walked around his desk, enveloping his warm arms around you in a gentle hug. _Just so you know.. you’re my favorite dumpling._ And the nickname just… stuck with you both.

The memory fades from your mind when you see Jooheon walk in front of you, surprisingly close. Longing swims in his eyes and melts onto you like fire, causing your senses to alight with the same feeling. Jooheon has been nothing short of a gentleman since the day he interviewed you. His hands never lingered too long, he always looked to your eyes in interest and always made sure you ate your meals throughout the day, no matter how busy he got. To have him this close, close enough to feel him breathing on your cheeks, is unfamiliar and scorchingly new territory.

Jooheon’s hands enclose around your shaky fingers, lacing them together with his. The warmth of his touch surrounds you like water as he gently pulls you into his waves. Heat prickles your arms in the form of goosebumps, the intimacy of this moment swallowing you whole. You look at your fingers, unable to differentiate his from yours. Never in your life have you felt this level of intensity with someone. Honestly, you don’t want to feel this with anyone but him. Thoughts swivel around your head chaotically until he breaks the contact with your palms, moving his fingers to touch your cheek. He’s so gentle you almost don’t feel it until he places his hands under your jaw, lifting your head towards his.

You’re not sure what to expect as you both look at each other, breaths mingling until they’re one. It seems that you aren’t the only one that’s affected by this moment because Jooheon’s ears are pink and his breath wavers every few seconds. He moves closer, testing the waters for your reaction. Like magnets, both of you inch closer and closer until his chest rests against yours and your arms hold him close, wrapping around his back as if you are afraid he might slip away. Honestly, a part of you is afraid. Afraid of this moment, of what may come after it and how it will affect your job and more importantly your relationship with Jooheon.

  
There’s something in the way his brown irises look at you that makes your fear a small pebble to walk over and leave in the dirt. You never really thought about how he made you feel until now. He has always had that effect on you from the moment you two met; he helped you become braver by believing in you. The petals of his lips touch your forehead in a chaste kiss, blooming a deep heat on your face and in your stomach. His eyelashes flutter over your forehead softly as he moves lower, kissing the tip of your nose.

“Thank you,” His voice resonates into the air like a song. The melody of him dances into your heart and the feeling is so beautiful that you hug him tighter.

“For staying by my side and working so hard,” The rain patters harder onto the glass windows after his words. Warm air from his lips meld onto yours like two puzzle pieces fitting together. The feeling has your eyelashes fluttering shut.

“Thank you for the sacrifices you make,” His voice is barely above a whisper this time. Your fingers grasp the material of his dress shirt, adding more wrinkles to the white fabric. The comfort and safety that he gifts you with covers you like a blanket. Warmth graces the scars in your heart as his thumbs rub over the apples of your cheeks delicately.

“Thank you for loving me,” The words barely finish leaving his mouth before the gap closes between your lips. His intensity mixes with your softness and they swirl together like the clouds above. The kiss isn’t rushed or laced with desperation but instead feels like coming home to something you’ve never known before. Like a gentle breeze in the spring or a hot shower after a wintery day. That’s how his lips feel on yours. You don’t notice that he’s sweating until his forehead rests on yours. His nose mushes onto your cheek and you can’t help but smile as he breaks the kiss. All of the emotions that you buried for Jooheon come to fruition and your eyes start to blur with water. He feels the same and you no longer have to wonder anymore.

“I love you,” He says steadily. One tear falls down his face as many emotions brew in his coffee eyes; doubt… fear… adoration… _love_. Tears of your own are freed after years of waiting and he quickly wipes them away. He searches your eyes for something he knows is there but the fear of losing you still tinges him.

“I love you too,” You croak out, letting go of all composure. Pulling him closer you try to hold onto this moment forever, knowing one day you’ll be remembering it as a faint memory. His heartbeat thumps into your ear as you rest your head on his chest. Wrapping his arms around your shoulders, one of his hands cradles the back of your head as he returns the hug. He feels more than perfect as you two hold each other, releasing all of the fear and trading it for love. Right now, he feels like home.

 

 


End file.
